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Team-By-Team:GermanGrand Prix, Nurburgring
Adrian Sutil converted his best grid position of
the season into Force India’s best finish of the
year as he took an admirable sixth at his home
race. He was the highest-finishing two-stopper,
pitting on laps 22 and 48, and even beat both
Mercedes cars by a comfortable 18-second
margin. Paul di Resta endured a tough race
in the sister Force India, after being hit into
a spin by Nick Heidfeld at turn 3 on the first
lap, having kept his place off the line. Despite
recovering well from last place, he fell 20
seconds short of points, taking the flag in 13th.
A disappointing weekend for Toro Rosso who
failed to score points for the first time in five
races. Alguersuari, starting 16th, represented
their best chance, but he finished just short
in 12th after struggling with his brakes. Buemi
started dead last after a fuel irregularity on
Saturday evening, but things got even worse
when he tangled with Heidfeld on lap 10,
forcing an early pitstop and earning himself
a 5-place grid penalty for Hungary. He was
compromised even more by running a wet-
weather set-up and finished the race a distant
15th.
Kamui Kobayashi returned to the points for
the first time in three races with another
eye-catching drive from the back of the grid.
The Japanese driver started 17th, but was
immediately in contention for points after
picking up six places in the first few laps. He
then two-stopped and hassled Schumacher
until the flag, unable to overtake due to the
Mercedes’ high straightline speed, to finish
ninth. Perez also two-stopped but was angry
with himself for making an error on lap 8,
forcing an early pitstop and putting a points
finish out of reach.
Glock was unable to take the fight to Lotus at
his home race, just hours after announcing
a long-term contract extension with Virgin
on Sunday morning. He slotted in behind
Kovalainen at the start, but quickly lost ground
and once Liuzzi retired at mid-distance, he had
an untroubled run to the finish. D’Ambrosio
spent much of the race fighting with HRT,
pulling clear only in the final ten laps as
Ricciardo faded, before finishing ten seconds
behind Glock.
HRT ran a strong race in Germany on Sunday,
despite finishing behind the lead Lotus and
both Virgins. Liuzzi again showed the way,
beating Virgin’s d’Ambrosio and battling
with Glock until he was forced to retire with
an electrical failure at the start of lap 38.
Ricciardo showed huge improvements in
only his second F1 race to battle hard with
the Virgins for almost the entire race. After
overtaking d’Ambrosio early in the race, he fell
behind again before his final pitstop but fell
away rapidly to finish 25 seconds adrift of the
Belgian.
Karun Chandhok endured a dismal return to
the Formula One grid on Sunday, as he stood
in for Jarno Trulli at the Nurburgring. After
qualifying 20th behind Virgin’s Timo Glock, he
dropped to last on the second lap and kept in
touch with his main rivals during his first stint,
but had the first of a number of high-speed
spins on lap 10, forcing an early pitstop. He
eventually finished over 3 minutes behind
team-mate Kovalainen, who drove a strong,
consistent race. The Finn finished 2 laps down
on Hamilton but was more than 80 seconds
clear of the leading Virgin.
F1 germany
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